Nail Salon Criticized After Offensive Sign to Overweight People

A nail salon from Tennessee was slammed for posting offensive sign which required overweight people to pay extra for a pedicure

BEACON TRANSCRIPT – A nail salon from Memphis, Tennessee, spiced a lot of controversy after being accused of body shaming. The salon, called Rose Nails, put up a sign which announced that plus-size people should pay extra for a pedicure.

Rose Nails, located in Frayser, caused a lot of debates on social media after a woman posted a picture of the sign. She accused the salon for the offensive sign and condemned them for causing low self-esteem to overweight people.

The sign read the following: “Sorry, but if you are overweight, pedicures will be $45 due to service fees for pedicurists. Thank you!”. The usual price for a pedicure is $30. However, an overweight person would have to pay $15 extra.

People did not stay indifferent to the sign

On March 12th, Deshania Ferguson uploaded a picture of the sign on Facebook. She wanted to let people know that body shaming acts were still taking place out there and explained that she found the sign offensive. Shortly after, the post became viral and it gathered more than 500 shares.

Many other women expressed their solidarity with Ferguson and condemned the salon for the sign. They showed themselves disappointed by such a condescending act and thought that no place should treat their customers like that.

How did the salon respond to critique?

The owner of Rose Nails, Son Nguyen, was confronted regarding the offensive sign, but he denied having put up such a sign. However, he admitted that he and his wife had turned away several overweight customers due to the difficulties their nail technicians would experience while offering them pedicures.

Also, he declared that he had had to spend $2,000 to $2,500 to repair salon chairs that suffered damage because of plus-size customers. As expected, such a statement received lots of criticism on social media. Michael Maize posted a scathing commentary on the Facebook post which stated the owner’s response.

“What is the difference from a ‘normal’ weighted 210 pound man and a woman with more curves that weighs about the same? The owner spoke on TV about the expensive Spa Chairs. What about a disabled person that finds it clumsy to get into the spa chair? Charge Disabled customers more money too?”

Nguyen might have denied ever putting up such an offensive sign, but many of his customers are already unhappy with such an attitude and with some of their business practices. They might think they are saving money by refusing to serve overweight people, but this might cost them other customers.Image Source: Wikimedia Commons